Lebanon union takes Mondelez to arbitration over closure compensation

When the Cadbury Adams union members employed by Mondelez in Lebanon were abruptly told their chewing gum factory was to close and the jobs were being moved to Egypt where labour costs were lower and the company had smashed the union, they were shocked at the Company deceit. For six months workers had been told it was business as usual and they had nothing to fear even though they observed inventory diminishing and sales dropping. Read previous story here.

After Mondelez assembled workers in the presence of armed civilian gunmen to tell them their jobs were gone, the union set about negotiating compensation. Mondelez tabled their take it or leave it offer.

The union sought the assistance of the Ministry of Labour which provided binding arbitration. The formula for compensation has been set and the company will pay workers medical insurance for the rest of the calendar year.

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The International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations (IUF) is an international federation of trade unions representing workers employed in agriculture and plantations; the preparation and manufacture of food and beverages; hotels, restaurants and catering services; all stages of tobacco processing. The IUF is composed of 394 affiliated organizations in 126 countries representing a combined membership of around 2,6 million.